Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by thinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density over time. It is widely prevalent in the elderly. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that by 2020 nearly 14 million Americans will suffer from osteoporosis. An additional 18 million may have low bone mass, or osteopenia. Osteoporosis can occur either because the body fails to make enough new bone or reabsorbs too much old bone, or both.
Osteoporosis often progresses painlessly until a bone breaks. Any bone can be affected, but one of principal concern is the hip. A hip fracture impairs a person's ability to walk and causes prolonged and sometimes permanent disability.
Osteoporosis can be treated with anabolic therapies or antiresorptive therapies. Anabolic therapies build new bone. But antiresporptive therapies do not. Instead they slow the resorption of existing bone. A major factor in the control of bone remodeling is parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH and its analogs are the only class of anabolic therapeutics with proven clinical efficacy. Teriparatide is an approved therapeutic that is a shortened version of PTH. It consists of the N-terminal 34 amino acid residues of mature PTH (PTH(1-34)). Teriparatide is administered by once daily subcutaneous injection.
PTH is an 84-amino acid peptide. It is involved in mineral ion homeostasis. Increased PTH mobilizes calcium from bone in response to calcium deficient diets or vitamin D insufficiency. PTH also affects osteoblasts and stromal cells. Although hyperparathyroidism is associated with bone loss, PTH administration causes bone gain. PTH binds to receptors on osteoblasts, specialized bone cells that synthesize bone, and this appears to prolong osteoblast life and increase osteoblast activity, causing bone gain.
PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) is a 141-amino acid protein that is homologous to PTH over its first 13 amino acids but diverges thereafter (1-3). PTH and PTHrP act through a common PTH/PTHrP receptor.
New treatments for osteoporosis are needed. Improved methods to deliver PTH, teriparatide, or other PTH/PTHrP receptor agonist agents are needed.